Monthly Archives: June 2016

52 Super Series – Audi Settimana delle Bocche – Porto Cervo

In a shifting, challenging light-breeze which kept tacticians and the race officer on their toes, home favourites Azzurra scored their first race win of the 52 Super Series season and now earn a share of the lead at the Audi Settimana delle Bocche, which they won last year.

The gentle breeze moved 50 degrees right over the duration of the race, requiring successive changes to the course axis on each leg of Race 3 of the series. It proved a good day for the underdogs too as XIO and Paprec, two of the oldest boats in the fleet, scrapped over the early lead. But Azzurra’s tactician Vasco Vascotto managed to judge the changes best for Azzurra, got nicely to the right of leader XIO at the top mark on the second beat and the home team were able to convert a small lead into their first win of the season.

Azzurra swapped their rudder overnight. Strategist Cole Parada shaved off his beard last night in the simple pursuit of a change for the better. It is not really clear which alteration contributed more to Azzurra’s win, but certainly the mood is lifted in the home camp.

Meantime XIO’s shore team had worked through the night to repair their port second spreader which broke in Race 2 yesterday, re-rigging their boat by 0700hrs this morning. Their second place finish is their best result yet on the circuit, Gabriele Parodi commenting:

“We are the last boat to arrive in the class and we have an older boat and a smaller budget and so it is nice to get our best result yet on the 52 Super Series. We have done modifications little by little. It is difficult to be here and race against the best guys in the world. But when you do well, it makes it double the pleasure.”

So both were rewarded for their endeavours as the Italian teams made a one-two with Quantum Racing staying consistent in the tricky conditions taking third to lead overall on count back. Platoon lie third.

Racing was delayed until the breeze built and settled enough. But it was fading fast down the final run and by the time the fleet had finished there was not enough wind for a second race.

“It is our first good result of the season which is good. If you were to get to 20 races of the season and still not have won one then there is something wrong, so it is good to get the win. It looks like we have discovered what was wrong. We have made some changes and we have to keep making changes to stay competitive. It is important to feel you have enough speed to be able to not have to make decisions simply because you need to do something different. The most important thing for us is to stay safe and just wait to make the best choices.” said Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Azzurra.

Standings (after day 2)

1 Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (9,1,3) 13pts

2 Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (8,4,1) 13pts

3 Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (7,2,7) 16pts

4 Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (3,3,11) 17pts

5 Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (5,8,4) 17pts

6 Rán Racing, SWE (Niklas Zennström SWE) (2,6,10) 18pts

7 Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (1,11,8) 20pts

8 XIO Hurakan, ITA (Guiseppe Parodi ITA) (6 DNS/13,2) 21pts

9 Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (10,5,9) 24pts

10 Sled, USA (Takashi Okura JPN) (11,7,6) 24pts

11 Sorcha GBR (Peter Harrison GBR) (4,9,12) 25pts

12 Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (12,10,5) 27pts

They said:
Stéphane Neve (FRA) skipper Paprec Recyclage (FRA):

“It is good news for us to sometimes be able to have the speed and make the right choices to get a good result in this high level cast. It is good for the fighting spirit for the team.”

Gabriele Parodi (ITA) project manager XIO Hurakan (ITA):

“We are the underdogs. We are the last boat to arrive in the class and we have an older boat and a smaller budget and so it is nice to get our best result yet on the 52 SUPER SERIES. We have done modifications little by little. It is difficult to be here and race against the best guys in the world. But when you do well it makes it double the pleasure.”

52 Super Series in Porto Cervo, Sardinia

Provezza finished last month’s Scarlino Cup regatta under a cloud. On the last run of the last race they slid down the leaderboard from a respectable fourth to a disappointing eighth.

Ergin Imre’s team bounced right back opening the Audi Settimana delle Bocche regatta with a nice pair of solid third places to lead the regatta, the second of the 2016 52 Super Series season.

“The only way to approach this today was to say Scarlino never happened. We de-briefed it to death. And we went out today with a plan and we executed and the plan was about right.” recalled Tony Rey, tactician, Provezza

After two good races, Porto Cervo delivering a consistent 9-11kts of NNW’ly breeze and warm sunshine, and Provezza leads Rán Racing by two points. Niklas Zennström’s crew finished second behind Bronenosec in the first race and sixth in the second race which was won by Quantum Racing.

Photo c Max Ranchi

Monday’s practice race had to be cancelled because the Mistral wind was blowing too strongly, which did nothing to help owners Doug DeVos and Peter Harrison. DeVos was back on the helm of Quantum Racing for the first time since January in Key West while newcomer Harrison was steering his first ever races in the 52 Super Series with Sorcha, the well optimised and prepared four year old, former Synergy.

Their fortunes contrasted only slightly. Sorcha started Race 1 well, tactician Cameron Dunn taking them to the favoured right side of the course. Quantum Racing were not quite so good, slightly slowed off the start line, they finished ninth. But Sorcha had slotted smartly into the tight first windward mark line up, tacking under the bow of Rán Racing to round third and finish in a very respectable fourth.

It was Vladimir Liubomirov’s Bronenosec which won the first race. They led a group of four to the right side, into a better lifted pressure, to round the first mark with a small lead with Provezza second. Rán Racing passed Sorcha and Provezza on successive legs, finishing second.

After debriefing Race 1 swiftly with tactician Terry Hutchinson, strategist Ed Baird and navigator Ian Moore; DeVos nailed the second start better and Quantum Racing were able to hold a good lane out to the left. They lead at the windward mark and were never really challenged, Harm Müller Spree’s Platoon taking second.

Bronenosec sadly suffered one of the those ‘Penthouse to Outhouse’ kind of days. From winning the first race they dropped their kite over the back of the boat and spent many minutes trying to recover it, resulting in an 11th place.

“Well it was a tale of two races. The first race was hard to get back into. The second we lead wire to wire. What a great day with awesome competition. It was just great to be out there on the water.” smiled Doug DeVos, owner-driver, Quantum Racing

Racing continues Tuesday with a Coastal Race programmed.

Standings after Race Day 1

1 Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (3,3) 6pts

2 Rán Racing, SWE (Niklas Zennström SWE) (2,6) 8pts

3 Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (7,2) 9pts

4 Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (9,1) 10pts

5 Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (1,11) 12pts

6 Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (8,4) 12pts

7 Sorcha GBR (Peter Harrison GBR) (4,9) 13pts

8 Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (5,8) 13pts

9 Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (10,5) 15pts

10 Sled, USA (Takashi Okura USA) (11,7) 18pts

11 Xio/Hurakan, ITA (Guiseppe Parodi ITA) (6 DNS/13) 19pts

12 Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (12,10) 22pts

They said:

Cameron Dunn (NZL), tactician Sorcha (GBR):

“It was a fun day. We are really happy. There are lots of things to work on but we are really pleased with how things are going. We made improvements through the day and in fact in the second race we sailed the boat better. I made a few mistakes. We had a good feel for the breeze in the first one and it worked out.”

Tony Rey (USA), tactician Provezza (TUR):

“We were able to stay in the top three in both races and that always feels good. But as everyone was quick to remind me on the way back in there are eight more races. I felt good for ten seconds and now we are just thinking about tomorrow. There were some ups and downs today and it is all about not having the big bad results.”

Doug DeVos (USA), owner-driver Quantum Racing (USA):

“No matter what you do you can’t ever get a feel in practice for what it is like in a real race. With the closeness of the racing, with boats around you, just trying to do manoeuvres then the dynamic is different. And you are trying to think through things rather than just trying to feel it. After some coaching after the first race, I felt better in the second. I would have loved to have had the practice race.”

GC32 Malcesine Cup at Foiling Week

Two new teams will make their competitive debuts on the GC32 Racing Tour when stage two of the European one design foiling catamaran circuit fires up in Malcesine on Italy’s Lake Garda over 7-10th July. For the GC32 Malcesine Cup, taking place as part of Foiling Week, ten GC32 teams will be competing.

Japan joins the GC32 Racing Tour in the form of Naofumi Kamei’s Mamma Aiuto! Like Jason Carroll’s Argo team, Mamma Aiuto! comes from the Melges 32 high performance keel boat, where it finished a very respectable third in the class’ last World Championship. Now into its fifth season, the team last year also took part in the Melges 20 Worlds finishing fourth and, aboard a TP52, won Copa del Rey Mapfre (this year’s Copa del Rey Mapfre will be the third stage of GC32 Racing Tour, over 3-6 August).

“We were looking for an exciting boat with a good number of teams in the fleet,” explains Spain’s Manuel Weiller, tactician and mainsail trimmer on Mamma Aiuto! “The GC32 is a fun boat to sail. Every day you go home with a smile on your face, and that is very important for our owner-driver project.”

The team took delivery of its GC32 over the winter and has been training with her in Japan. Racing alongside the owner and Weiller are Javier de la Plaza from Spain and Jakob Gustafsson from Sweden, both former crew on Armin Strom Sailing Team.

De la Plaza previously competed in the Volvo Ocean Race on board Telefónica Black in 2008-9 and in the last race on Team Brunel. He is also a former World Champion in the 49er Olympic skiff and is a two time J/80 World Champion.

Human muscle machine, Jakob Gustafsson comes with a strong background on the World Match Racing Tour. They are joined by Matthew Barber on bow.

According to Weiller, the team has sailed the GC32 for around 40 days, but this has been alone – Malcesine will be their first time racing against other GC32s. However he is confident they can get up to speed quickly: “The boat is easy to drive and handle, plus we have Javier and Jakob in our team, who are experienced and guiding us through everything.”

While Mamma Aiuto! is new to racing on two hulls, the same is not true for the Swiss on Realteam.

Founded in 2009 by Esteban Garcia, Realteam had its first experience catamaran racing in the D35 circuit on Lake Geneva in 2010. Since then the team has progressed rapidly, and in 2012 won the D35 annual championship and Switzerland’s top regatta, the Bol d’Or Mirabaud. It has also competed on the Extreme Sailing Series finishing third overall in 2014.

A fundamental remit of Realteam is to nurture young Swiss sailing talent. However many of the original line-up remain with the team, including helmsman/trimmer Loic Forestier, trimmer/bowman Thierry Wasem and tactician Denis Girardet, all led by skipper Jérôme Clerc and with Remi Aeschimann also on board for Malcesine.

Compared to Mamma Aiuto! Realteam is newer to the GC32 having only acquired its boat one month ago. The crew practiced for a few days last week on Lake Geneva, when conditions were unusually brisk. As Clerc explains:

“We did some speed trials – it was very fast. In fact I’ve never been so fast in my life. We don’t know how fast we were, because we didn’t have any electronics– but it felt like 40 knots! It is a great, amazing boat.”

While they are experienced catamaran sailors, turning into foiling catamaran sailors has been a new step and over the spring Realteam has been learning this on the GC32’s little brother, the 18ft Flying Phantom. “That really helped us learn quite fast how to sail the GC32,” continues Clerc.

However Clerc acknowledges they are still on a steep learning and they have yet to master GC32-specific manoeuvres such as foiling gybes.

“We’re in Malcesine this week starting to learn about how to sail the boat around a course. We are looking forward to racing a lot: We went to Riva to watch the racing [the GC32 Riva Cup] and it was fantastic. We hope the wind conditions will be the same, because it looks such fun.”

Clerc hopes that they will get competitive quickly. In Malcesine, he says, they hope to find out their level. By Copa del Rey Mapfre in August, they hope to be getting competitive.

The Foiling Week Garda 2016 Forum Programme

Foiling Week™, the first and only global event dedicated to foiling boats, their sailors, designers and builders, today announced the Forum Programme for its 2016 Lake Garda event.

The Foiling Week Forum is a unique event that creates an opportunity for the best foiling regatta sailors to share knowledge and information with designers/builders and enable technicians and theorists to put into practice their projects, generating an exchange of feedback that accelerates the development process of foiling.

This is why The Foiling Week events are so popular, it is not only racing, not only a show, it is a real moment of growth for the foiling community of ‘Thinkers and Tinkerers”

Speakers

An impressive lineup of speakers at the 2016 Forum at Garda will represent two of the sectors where foiling is beginning to establish itself as the ‘third mode of sailing’, namely Coastal and Offshore sailing. Transversely other key themes at this year`s Forum will be ‘Accessibility and Security’.

Amongst the key speakers at Foiling Week Garda are Franck Cammas (Team France) who will speak on foiling in the Americas Cup, Mario Caponnetto, a member of the AC Land Rover BAR Team, who will present on an innovative foil in a world exclusive. Paolo Manganelli from Gurit, a worldwide leader in composite engineering and materials, will discuss the latest innovations in the field.

Below is the full program of the three days of the forum: (To review the full program of the three-days event, please see the attached document.)

During the forum, the TFW awards will be presented for these categories:

•Foiling project/designer professional

•Foiling prototype amateur

•Foiling boat

•Foiling innovation

•Foiling sailor

The award ceremony will take place in October at the Franco Parenti Theatre.

Voting will take place at The Foiling Week Garda and also at the Newport event. Votes will be collected among all participants.

Three more flying boats will make their debut

Furthermore, Foiling Week(TM) will see the debut of top-notch Stiletto will present the FX project, the Voilavion Cat will be launched during the event and there will be the race debut of the monohull design, the Waszp.

52 Super Series in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy

The 52 Super Series fleet of TP52s grows in numbers for the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s renowned Audi Settimana delle Bocche which starts on Monday with the first official practice race. Peter Harrison and his crew of Sorcha step into the 52 Super Series arena for their very first time at the circuit’s second regatta of five, meaning that there will be 12 TP52s starting in Sardinia.

“We have very modest expectations. We are very aware that we are the new kids on the block compared to many of the fleet who have been racing consistently and improving over the last few years. We are just looking to do as well as we can.”

Confirms Campbell Field, navigator and project manager for the Sorcha programme which is the third team on the circuit to fly the GBR flag.

“We have not done much in the way of specific 52 Super Series training but raced in the Caribbean earlier in the season. We did three days of training in Palma after the boat was refitted into TP52 class trim, but that was just ticking off things. So we know we are going to be up against it. It will be an eye opener for us. But we have a good team which have sailed the boat consistently well over the last couple of years. And we have Cameron Dunn as tactician who has been around the TP52s a lot and he is not taking any prisoners in making sure we polish up our drills in preparation.”

For the Azzurra team, world champions and 52 Super Series title holders, there are hopes that the return to the home waters will return the emblematic Yacht Club Costa Smeralda team to winning ways. It was at their Sardinian home where they lit the blue touch paper to ignite their back to back regatta wins, the Settimana delle Bocche and the World Championships, which contributed so much to their series title success last year.

“We did not sail so well. We were not so fast.” Is Azzurra navigator Bruno Zirilli’s assessment of their performance in Scarlino last month, finishing fifth. “And so it is simple we need to sail better. We need to focus more on our speed. All of the boats on the circuit are faster than last year and so when you make a mistake it is worse than last year. Last year we were a little faster.”

Zirilli adds:

“But we are coming back to home waters. We love the place. We love the people. It is our home and that always gives us a lift.”

The double 52 Super Seires champions Quantum Racing – winners overall in 2013 and 2014 – start with the advantage of a strong winning momentum. They won in Scarlino at the first regatta of the season last month, but finished their 2015 season with wins at the Copa del Rey in Palma and in Cascais, Portugal. The impetus is very much with Quantum Racing but their Scarlino winning line up changes for Sardinia as owner Doug DeVos returns to steer for his team at a venue which he is particularly fond of. DeVos is no stranger to winning and steers to a professional level but the change of helm still requires fine tuning of the afterguard’s communication loop, especially on the start line. That said the combination of Terry Hutchinson calling tactics with DeVos on the helm is one which has proven fruitful, most recently at Copa del Rey last year.

The battle for the podium which raged hard and fast in Scarlino will only intensify on the Costa Smeralda. Andy Soriano’s crew on Alegre made a great opening to their season finishing just six points behind Quantum Racing and Harm Müller Spreer’s Platoon took third. But, as is so often stated, small mistakes result in weighty points on the scoreline.

Provezza spent the week pitching on or close to the podium but posted two 10ths in the last three races and dropped to an eighth overall finish – scarcely a reflection of how well they sailed most of the time – and Niklas Zennström’s Rán Racing were podium contenders but added a 10,8 and 7 from their last four races. But in the end just eight points separated fourth from eighth after eight races.

“The last day was brutal. I don’t think I have had a worse five minute period in my sailing career.” Recalls Tony Rey, Provezza’s tactician, of their 10th on the last day which slid them down the leaderboard, “It was everything conspired against us. We went from fourth overall to eighth on that last run. And so the only way to look at it is pick ourselves up. That was one of something like 45 races, let’s just treat it as a bad race. But in the end the points are still close and we just need to keep pushing on the little things.”

Andy Hemmings, trimmer on Rán Racing concludes:

“For sure the whole fleet has moved on. From the technical side we had almost a full year out of the circuit and that was reflected in Scarlino. We were a little off the pace in small areas. We have addressed those areas. But for sure now the fleet is much better at starting. Much better. Gone are the days when you could get away with a mediocre start. Everyone is on the line, on the gun at full pace. We have to keep practising to get better. Upwind we were a tiny, tiny bit off the pace and that has been addressed. You just don’t come into this fleet after a year out and expect it to all fall into place the way you want.”

A Class Catamaran World Championship at Medemblik, Holland – Overall

The final day was scheduled for 4 races. The Silver fleet, being unable to race the day before because of lack of wind, were the first off at about 10am. The wind was a nice breeze of about 10-12 kts from the West. Not particularly gusty or shifty. The overcast sky looked like threatening rain, but on the Ijsselmeer that means nothing. In the end, it didn’t rain as we did or didn’t expect it to.

The first Silver race got underway with little problem, as the U flag (anyone found course side of the line within the last minute gets a stiff talking to and DSQ with no redress, unless a general recall happens, and if they don’t go around the ends) kept the fleet shy of the line until the go.

Straight away the Argentinian Sergio Mehl shot into the lead on his new DNA F1 (ARG 1), leaving the rest of the fleet for dead. Most of this fleet settled for the left side again, but a few switched to the right. The two fleets rejoined at the top mark, with little advantage seen to either fleet. At the top Sergio was ahead of the fleet and never looked back. He stretched his lead on each lap until he was several minutes ahead of the pack, despite a dropping wind. Fellow Argentinian Julio Saubidet (ARG 4) on a borrowed Exploder AD3 was second and the Polish sailor Stefan Schleifer (POL 200) came in third.

With the Silver fleet first race over, the Gold fleet started their penultimate round. By now the wind had picked up again, so right into Mischa Heemskerk’s zone. They got away cleanly and the race settled into the usual pattern of Mischa leading but the battle for the next few placed boats was keener. The top left side looked to be the best, however, the best pressure was just a little too high up the course to be properly usable by most sailors, so the now traditional square shaped sailing course developed again. One of the leaders Stevie Brewin (AUS 4) broke off his port rudder on his Exploder AD3 on the last downwind leg and dropped him down from about 3rd place to 8th at the finish. Luckily, he had enough time to return to the beach for a replacement before the final race. Again the wind dropped during the race as if someone had not fed the meter, and most of the fleet floated over the line in sedate fashion. Jacek Noetzel (POL 1) came in 2nd and 3rd was Darren Bundock (AUS 888) both on the Exploder AD3.

This was match point for Mischa, who cruised in for his 2nd World A Class title. His first was in 2013 in Florida, the one held just before a hurricane. And the Flying Dutchman did sail like a beast possessed so well deserved!

The final Silver race was again won by ‘the A Class Fangio’ Sergio Mehl (ARG 1). In reality, he should have been in the Gold fleet, but as a result of not checking the notice board on the first morning, he and two of his other countrymen would have seen that their fleet race times had been switched. As a result, they sailing in the wrong races, and were thus given 2 x DNS for not being in the correct fleet start. Lessons learned.

The final Gold race was to decide the other positions. Bundy needed to seriously mess up to loose second place, and in the end finished in 5th to secure his podium place. Stevie had to beat Jacek to get the 3rd. In the end, he got a bullet to do it. Carolijn Brouwer (NED888) ended up in a superb 14th place in her first A Class event and top woman sailor. Sam Newton (GBR 6) was the top GBR sailor, let down buy a poor first day, and finished 22nd.

The Wrap-up

As there were 119 boats racing, the class rules say it should be split into 2 fleets for more than 110 boats. Due to constraints placed on the event by finances and available rescue facilities, it was necessary to sail one course with 2 fleets at separate times. This raised the possibility of fleets sailing in different wind conditions, which happened on most occasions. Although the fleets were ‘shuffled’ to get a mix of rated top sailors in each fleet, it was inevitable that some would sail more races in conditions that favoured them. Mischa was the biggest winner of this system. He never sailed a light wind race as all his races were in the higher winds where he excels. Had he been drawn in a lighter wind fleet, the result could well have been different and Bundy, a good light wind sailor, may have been up there.

This year, unusually, the two main builders of A Cats had produced brand new designs, not just variations of earlier boats. The Holland Composites DNA F1, with its black clear coated carbon finish and stealth boat looks was the most recognisable. The concentration on airflow over and under the tramp have been the biggest improvements for them. However, the new Exploder AD3, whilst a more conventional looking boat seems to have a superb foil system, making it much more stable that it’s predecessors and will get on the foils at least a knot earlier. The two boats, both sporting the decksweeper sail rig, are remarkably close on the course. Gone were last year’s 10+ minute leads by the winners. 1 to 2 mins is now the norm.

Foiling conditions, in the allowable winds were pretty good. No big waves or gusty shifts to wipe out the sailor.

The non foiling ‘Classic’ designs scored well in the light stuff. The Southern German and some Swiss lake sailors regularly scored in the top 5 when conditions suited.

Mixing both foil types seems to present no problems anyone could see. There was screaming and shouting at the bottom marks by both foiling and non foiling sailors alike. Any collisions all happened to be slow speed affairs, as both categories are fully aware of the others performance, and sail accordingly.

The requirement to wear helmets for foiling boats in the sailing instructions was complied with, albeit grudgingly by a few competitors. However, had the winds been higher, more towards the upper end of the class maximum of 22 kts, I think few would have said anything. It is important that, as a class, the A Cat fleet is seen to embrace personal protection before National Sailing regulators impose possibly restrictive rules as has been attempted in France.

But the event was a success, and all the participants enjoyed being there. Dutch Class President, Jan Groot, did a superb job of virtually single handedly organising the whole event. And also to Contender Sailcloth, Holland Composites, Van Beelen Ropes and Magic Marine.

International Moth European Championships in Bordeaux, France

Mike Lennon (GBR) won the Moth Europeans with consistent style. Counting 9 races with podium finishes including four bullets, (more than any other sailor). He won by a comfortable 10 points on the final day.

The British moth squad completed the top three places on the podium with Chris Rashley clawing his way back from the depths on the penultimate day to finish the regatta strongly with a 1,2 on the final race day. Making up the podium is Ben Paton (the patonator) on 31 points.

Most mothies had to discard a shocker at some point in the regatta but Mike Lennon’s discarded results were 21 & 5.

Racing on the lake was tricky all week with predominately weak winds and a lot of shifts but the race committee persisted with the race schedule finishing a total of eleven races.

A Class Catamaran World Championship at Medemblik, Holland

‘I understand there may be a 180 degree wind shift at some point today, what sort of time do you think?’ was the question posed to the rib driver, an experienced local sailor. He just looked at me for a while, ‘This is the Ijsselmeer’ he replied, ‘we have absolutely no idea!’

Such are the conditions of this Dutch lake, that it can sometimes produce it’s own weather that seems to defy the laws of metrology. It can be raining hard all day on the shore, but lovely and sunny a mile out on the lake – and stay like that all day. Today the Gold fleet experienced its metrological sense of humour.

The plan was for 2 Gold fleet and 2 Silver fleet races, am and pm as was the pattern. Throughout the night, inhabitants of campers and tents had been serenaded by the sound of rain for most of the night. It started to die off at about 8am. Then start again, but with added lighting effects now. At 9 45am the ‘delayed – stay on shore’ flags were hoisted, but an hour later it was squadron scramble as the Gold fleet were told to get to the race area. The wind was light, but enough for the better sailors to get a bit of foiling practice in here and there. Fleet assembled, marks laid, time to start the rain again.

The wind from the North was bringing in banks of cloud, but a couple of miles away onshore, a few lightning bolts were seen. Being on a boat with a 9m carbon stick is possibly not the best place to be in this situation, but it stayed over the land. So, the sequence was started, and at the 5 min flag, the rain went up another gear, and the wind rose up to about 12 knots. But by the start flag, the rain was bouncing off the water as the fleet set off for the top mark, or towards the area it was assumed to be in. A rescue rib accompanying the fleet decided to head for the top mark and wait, making it a little more visible in the murk. Then after about 5 mins the wind just switched off, and the rain stopped like turning off a shower slowly. At that point the PRO decided to abandon the race. The fleet returned to the start slowly. It was then that this windshift started. Within 10 mins the bottom became the top and after waiting for the direction to settle the committee boat sailed off to a new location with all the A Cats following like ducklings. And then the wind machine started up again with a nice 12 kts.

The U flag was hoisted to prevent any keen starters from crossing the line beforehand, further slowing the proceedings. And the 59 boats all got off to a good start. Many of the fleet opted to go right after seeing better pressure in that area, but at the first mark, 8 mins later, it was the ones who didn’t tack off, staying left than slotted in front before the mark and started to reconfigure the boat for the next leg – a bit off the downhaul, a touch off the mast rotation, and drop the traveller maybe a foot, then haul the board rake to that crucial predetermined angle, move back on the wire and get locked in, all as they round the mark.

Daniel Philpott on NZL 262 got there first and chased by Alberto Farnesi SWE 59 and Rutger Krijger NED 14. The favourites of Mischa Heemskerk NED 007, Stevie Brewin AUS 4 and Darren Bundock AUS 888 were several boats back, but catching fast, as was Jacek Noetzel on POL1. The top spreader leg is usually the first time the boats get up to some proper speed. The A cat will slice upwind at about 16 kts in those winds, but this may now go up to 19 kts or so in that wind for many foiling guys upon rounding the top mark for the first time in the race, as the apparent wind swings around to the front.

Then the downhill speed ride begins. Sheeting and steering, steering and sheeting, the boats try to remain on their foils, whilst the sailors, or riders as we shall now call them, attempt to keep them as flat a possible using moves totally counter intuitive to a dinghy sailor on the same angles. Moving their weight up and down the hull, by leaning forwards or backwards with that rear foot firmly kicked into the rear toe strap. Occasionally someone hits a slight lull, resulting in the windward hull dropping and the rider is dumped up to his neck in seconds. If they get the position secure, the boat will regain its height again and drags them back up. If not, they will be knocked off balance and swing forward along the hull, before catching the shroud and remounting the boat. The unlucky ones will go around the mast like a swingball game and pulling the boat over on top in a cloud of spray and swearing. But these are the Gold fleet riders, so it tends not to happen like that often.

The fleet all chose to go down the left side, so the now familiar square shaped course developed again, as they reduced the number of gybes and tacks to a minimum. By now, Mischa, Bundy and Stevie were in front in line astern.

Approaching the bottom mark, they reconfigure the boats for the uphill leg, reversing the settings done at the top. All this whilst still on the wire and going in excess of 18 kts or so. The boats can frequently rear up like a bronco at the bottom mark rounding if they are not careful, as the downward load from the rig drops as the wind speed and angle changes, but the boat speed initially does not. But they just ride it and then it settles down into the smooth silent upwind glide the A Cat is famous for. Repeat 2 more times.

In the end, Misha finished that one about 50 sec ahead of Stevie, and the grinning Pole Jacek a minute later. Bundy finished that one in 11th place after snagging a plastic bag on his rudder and 4 places behind was his wife Carolijn Brouwer.

The second race got underway first time too, but Mischa got stuck in a pack to the committee boat end. He elected to tack away to the right to clear his air. A few others followed, but the main fleet continued to the left. At the top, it was Mischa who rounded first, with Jasek following 10 secs later and 20 secs after him was Bruce Mahoney on USA 311.

Then as the rest of the fleet rounded the top, the wind machine started its wind down. Everyone came off the foils and switched to they low drag mode for a further 2 laps. The PRO brought the top mark down on 2 successive laps to reduce the distance. The race was again won by Mischa, who must have by now cemented his 2nd World Championship. Bundy was second and Jacek third. Stevie finished in a poor (for him) 6th place. The rest of the fleet drifted in, taking 32 mins after the winner to finish them all.

By now, the Silver fleet was on station for their race. But after a 10 min drift about, it was decided to postpone the race until Friday.

So now the Gold fleet has sailed a championship, but not yet the Silver. Tomorrow, the winner is crowned and the analysis starts.

International Moth Europeans in Bordeaux, France

Day 3 of the Moth Europeans in Bordeaux and sailors enjoyed sweltering heat and sunshine but light winds and typical lake conditions. Despite the first warning signal being scheduled for 12 noon, the AP flag was displayed due to only 4-7 knots on course with lulls.

Racing was postponed util late afternoon to enable the racers to benefit from a more stable breeze of 7-9 knots. Ultimately, one race was run at the end of the day.

Mike Lennon (GBR) took his third bullet of the championship and if he discards his 21st will move into the overall lead ahead of Ben Paton (GBR) and Chris Rashley (GBR).

Racing continues on Thursday with and earlier start time of 1000hrs and hopefully more wind.